Ten more of the world’s coolest bike shops

by Matt de Neef

Last month we published an article that featured 10 of the world's coolest bike shops. In researching and putting together that post it became clear that there were plenty more than just 10 amazing bike shops that we wanted to share with you. In this second instalment we feature photos and stories from ten more of the world's coolest bike shops.

Of course, we’re never going to please everyone and we all have different opinions about what makes a bike shop “cool”. But here are some that caught our attention, presented in no particular order. Some are traditional “bike shops,” some are “bike cafes”, others are simply “bike spaces”.

If there is a bike shop that defines “cool” in your opinion, let us know in the comments below and be sure to leave some information about it so we can follow it up. And if you haven’t checked out the first instalment in the series, take a look here.

Cicli Berlinetta

Location: Berlin, GermanyFounded: 2005

According to the proprietor of Cicli Berlinetta, Berlin has one of the highest ratios of bike shops to inhabitants of any of the world’s capitals, which makes it tough to make one’s bike shop stand out. Dustin’s strategy? Focus on “finely crafted, delightfully detailed real vintage steel, garnished with the right accessories and finished with a certain subtle flair”.

Here’s what else Dustin told us about his space:

“

The craftsmanship and style of the era preceding today’s CAD-shaped composite machines is celebrated and venerated at Cicli Berlinetta. Alongside a wide variety of good used frames from renowned framebuilders such as Masi, Casati and Paletti, we offer our own brand of made-to-measure framesets or complete bespoke bicycles, in contemporary steel tubing, featuring Cicli Berlinetta drop-outs, BB castings and lug sets all adorned with the crown motif.

If you’re after this season’s latest cookie-cut oversize decal-smothered abomination, this isn’t the right bike shop for you. If, however, you’re after quality used components for a restoration project, retro wool cycling jerseys and vintage style handmade Italian cycling shoes, or to have your bicycle repaired by skilled mechanic, then Cicli Berlinetta is for you.

Factory Five

Location: Shanghai, ChinaFounded: 2010

Factory Five is a track bike boutique and workshop in Shanghai that builds custom fixed-fear bikes and reconditions vintage Chinese bikes. The folks at Factory Five organise a range of rides, races and events for local riders and they describe themselves as the “epicentre of the fixed-gear scene in Shanghai.”

Here’s what else they had to say about their space:

“

Our space is a combination of office, cafe and workshop. People come to us to connect with each other, work on their bikes and follow the fixed-gear China story. We used to be a bunch of guys with tools and now we’re a bunch of tools with a bigger space and something that drives fixed gear China.

Click here to see the Factory Five website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Look mum no hands!

Location: London, UKFounded: 2010

Look mum no hands! is as much a cafe and bar as it is a traditional bike shop. It’s got a terrific name and by the looks of the photos it’s a pretty great little space. The folks at LMNH host a whole range of cycling-related events and previous guests have included Graeme Obree, Gary Fisher and the great Eddy Merckx.

Here’s what the folks at LMNH had to say about their space.

“

Look mum no hands! has been riding with a tailwind as cycling’s popularity in the UK has soared. The cafe/bar/workshop has become a favourite for cycling Londoners with local roasters Square Mile providing the caffeine and craft beers coming from several London breweries. A team of friendly mechanics service anything from Di2 to Sturmey Archer and even the occasional fixie.

The cafe shows cycling on a big screen, beginning with the Spring Classics and building to a Tour de France frenzy in July. 2012 was a particular highlight, culminating in this moment when a British yellow jersey lead out a British World Champ to a Champs Élysées victory.

Click here to see the Look mum no hands! website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Beasley Cycles

Location: Melbourne, AustraliaFounded: 1919

Beasley Cycles has been around for nearly 100 years after first launching in the east Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1919. After 12 years of operation Beasley Cycles headed west to its current home in Footscray where it’s been in operation for around 80 years.

The Beasley family is famous in Victorian and Australian cycling circles thanks, in part, to John Raymond Beasley riding in the Tour de France in 1952 and 1955. The shop is currently run by third-generation Beasleys, John and Vicki.

Here’s what the folks at Beasley Cycles said of J.J. Beasley Snr, the original founder of the store:

“

J.J. Beasley Snr was a colourful character, known to many across the Western district of Victoria where he not only raced the bike carnivals but also was a strong runner and boxer. J.J. was a world record holder for the 100 miles set in the Melbourne to Warrnambool road race.

Click here to see the Beasley Cycles website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Pearson Cycles

Location: Sutton, Surrey, UKFounded: 1860

According to the folks at Pearson Cycles their bike shop is the oldest in the world. Founded in 1860 it has remained in the Pearson family for more than 150 years and is currently run by the fifth generation of Pearsons.

Here’s what the folks at Pearson Cycles told us:

“

We strive to maintain the reputation set by the four previous generations, providing the very best help and advice to all our customers. Our aim is to cater for the more discerning customer, offering high quality cycles and equipment with a more personal, specialist service.

150 years of history have shaped the shop into what it is today and helped produce the thriving culture within our shop. We strive to employ knowledgeable, keen and friendly people, all of whom are keen riders and have first-hand experience from years of cycling on and off road.

Click here to see the Pearson Cycles website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Boulder Cycle Sport

Location: Boulder, Colorado, USAFounded: 2005

We haven’t visited Boulder Cycle Sport but it came highly recommend to us by a whole bunch of people. The store was founded by two mates who met as kinesiology students at the University of Colorado in the early 1990s.

After staying in touch for the next decade the two guys, Taro and Brandon, hatched a plan in late 2004 to open a bike shop in North Boulder. The next year, in June, Boulder Cycle Sports was born. The store now has two locations: one in North Boulder, one in South Boulder.

Here’s what Brandon told us about the store:

“

Let’s redefine the community bike shop. We kept saying that over and over when we were envisioning our store back in 2005. We wanted to create a place where anyone and everyone would feel welcomed and get world-class service.

Sure, first and foremost we are a bike shop. We sell bikes and we fix bikes. However, it’s not uncommon to see us out and about fixing kids bikes at local school or flipping pancakes for Bike To Work Day. We love giving back to the community.

Click here to see the Boulder Cycle Sport website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Mud Dock

Location: Bristol, UKFounded: 1994

Established in 1994 in a converted dockside warehouse in Bristol, Mud Dock prides itself on being a “lifestyle destination” rather than just a simple bike shop. In addition to the workshop Mud Dock also features a fully fledged, award-winning restaurant and cafe.

These factors, combined with Mud Dock’s unique dockside location and a sunny rooftop terrace make it popular among local and visiting cyclists.

Here’s what the folks at Mud Dock had to say:

“

Mud Dock was one of the first locations in the UK to retail high-end cycling product and has a history steeped in quality, style and innovation.

Not just a store for the lycra clad roadie, Mud Dock caters for all tribes. Currently we are stockists for Trek, Cannondale, Look, Brompton, Pashley, and Charge and have recently been made the sole UK retailer for the BMC impec project. We are honoured to have been given this opportunity and feel the bespoke nature of the product sits well with our ethos as a business.

We also have a fully fitted workshop which employs two fully certified mechanics sharing over 70 years’ experience – so no mechnical issue is too big or small.

All images of Mud Dock appear courtesy of Oliver Edwards. Click here to see the Mud Dock website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

R&A Cycles

Location: Brooklyn, New York, USAFounded: 1976

Founded in Brooklyn in the late 1970s, R&A Cycles proudly declares itself “the world’s largest cycle store”. According to its website, R&A Cycles was also the first company to create a mail-order cycling website, in the early 1990s, when the internet was “just a vague idea”.

Here’s what else the folks at R&A Cycles had to say about their space:

“

R&A Cycles has quickly turned the years as the flagship pro bike shop for professionals and enthusiasts all over the world. In the early 80s R&A Cycles quickly gained a reputation of being the shop to have hard-to-get imported frames and parts. With that reputation and the inventory to back it up we proceeded by creating a mail order business which was the stepping stones for today’s mail order companies.

Click here to see the R&A Cycles website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Pedalhead Road Works

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaFounded: 1999

Another business that’s keen to be seen as more than just a simple bike shop, Pedalhead Road Works in Edmonton claims to “sell cycling history and build an appreciation of road culture.”

Here’s more of what they told us:

“

For us it’s a conscious balance between embracing innovation and retaining an old world philosophy; driven by the commitment to provide our customers with
exceptional products, skilled service, and a deep understanding of everything road.

We are purveyors of culture, and we are here to guide you, regardless of whether it’s your first high end race bike, or your final obsession. Through one-on-one interaction, we build your dream bike from the ground up relying on our expertise; mixing time tested staples with innovative products.

We create a higher level of connection between you and your bike using industry leading tools, resources, and decades of experience. We outfit you with the most stylish, technical, and comfortable clothing to make your ride unforgettable. It’s what we love to do.

Because road is not about winning races or building the lightest bikes, and neither is PRW. It’s about embracing the history of the sport, and an appreciation of the culture that we are all a part of.

Images appear courtesy of Bill Hodgetts.Click here to see the Pedalhead Road Works website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

Kinoko Cycles

Location: London, UKFounded: 2006 (as Tokyo Fixed)

When Kinoko Cycles was born back in 2006 it was known as Tokyo Fixed, a web-based shop that supplied bike products and apparel to serious bike enthusiasts around the world. Their bricks and mortar store opened in the London suburb of Soho in 2009 with a focus on building beautiful custom bikes.

Here’s what the folks at Kinoko Cycles had to say about their space:

“

With a penchant for those lesser known, hard to find and less ‘commercial’ parts, we source products from what we believe to be some of the finest brands on the planet. With a cool, admiring eye on high quality products, conscientiously designed and with a passion for marrying together both style and function, we take our love of bikes, skills and experience to help bring our customers’ bespoke-build dreams into shining life.

In 2013 we opened our flagship store – Kinoko Cycles. Situated in the center of Soho, Kinoko Cycles is the product of everything we love about cycling. Displaying some of the finest custom bikes in existence alongside some of the fastest performance road bikes lets us provide people with exactly what they want, from a bike for life to race-day best. From our fitting rooms to our stock of casual and professional cycling clothing, Kinoko Cycles lets us support the best of cycling across the board, from commuters to pros, from the cleats to the helmet.

Click here to see the Kinoko Cycles website, click here to follow them on Twitter and here to become a fan on Facebook.

I was at Factory Five a couple of weeks ago. Great atmosphere in a random part of the city, great layout and cheap beers!

William

Cycle zone in Rotorua. Best bike shop in New Zealand!

Brooklynite

R&A in Brooklyn Ny has some of the worst costumer service in the area. The shop is great if you buy online but expect to spend more than $13 grand to get someone to smile at you at the store

SDS

This is completely true. Somehow they got used cars salesmen to switch to selling bikes. It’s a NYC shop, and what else would you expect from any store in the city? That being said, the selection is amazing. Do yourself a favor and by from R&A online.

J

R&A is terrible, they have the worst customer service of any of the NY bike stores.
The store itself is not well laid out with bikes jammed every where, definitely not a cool store.

Moneyfire

100% agree. I’ve never left that store feeling less than enraged. I will only go there in an emergency (they do stock pretty much everything) and do my best to dissuade any one looking for a quality shop from heading their way.

Luis Oliveira

I’m still to find one person that has ever experienced good service from R&A. It is quite amazing actually, they are the freaking consensus of the internet.

awesometown

While I appreciate cyclingtips giving nyc a bit more love… I don’t think this was what I was looking for. Hands down the worst bike shop in the city REGARDLESS of selection. It means nothing to sell someone a 13k bike if the sales person is an angry middle aged skeeze with a huge gut that hasn’t ridden a bike in 20 years. Usually the shops on this list have a bunch of style, wizard like knowledge of late 80s campy and a beautiful layout. This place has none.

Mike Martin

you forgot about the keirin shop in berlin, they invented that style with bikes and museum, they have been out there since 2004, most of the other shops did not even exist back then, just my 2 cents…

Sandra

True! Great folks – nice new and vintage parts – Delicious coffee!

Sam Weinberg

Hey, that’s my work bench at BCS.

Jimmy

The new shop at Olympic Park, Sydney called Park Bikes is off the hook. V02 max testing. Awesome fitting. Great looking store too. I dealt with the owner, Nash.. Great service.

Ian

Really enjoying these articles. I’m off to Barcelona, Amsterdam and Paris in a couple of weeks. I’ve got the Barcelona bike shop covered from the first of these articles. Any recommendations for bike shops that are ‘must see’ in Amsterdam and Paris?

Ali

Pave is a great shop but it’s a fair way out of the city. It’s on the way to the Airport.

In Paris, check out En selle Marcel http://ensellemarcel.com/. A great shop and really friendly owner!
Should be in this list as well!

Ian

Thanks Ali – much appreciated.

dcaspira

great idea for a handy / niche little iphone app – hooking into these reviews for travellers…

SuperDom

The weird thing about Paris is that there aren’t many bike shops there (home of le Tour)? I’m guessing they’re out in the ‘burbs. Or in Italy.

Robee

Check out Thick Bikes in Pitttsburgh, PA.

JulesP

Have really enjoyed checking out these amazing stores. Most of them seem to have a pretty massive floor space to work with … it would be great to see how some smaller stores do it well too.

I have to admit, I have a bit of a connection with Pedalhead. They were my first sponsor! I haven’t been to the new store featured in this post, but the location in Calgary was the size of a shoebox. It doesn’t exist anymore, but good memories…

Kyle Potts

PRW is an incredible bike shop. Great people, bikes, and advice! Nice to see a little Canadian shop get recognition!

Luis Oliveira

I was enjoying the list, but then I saw the store in Brooklyn and the bad taste of awful service came back strong. So many other stores to choose in the area, with much, much nicer (and knowledgeable) salespeople…

mflu

Toronto has a plethora of “cool” shops including Bikes on Wheels, La Bicicletta, and Blacksmith Cycle.

i don’t really care about cool though. The store can look like a hurricane hit if if the staff are good.

scottmanning

“Fixed-fear”? Typo surely. First sentace of Factory Five.

mmb

Typo for sure but I think its appropriate. Ill start calling it that myself from now on.

Roz

I had pretty decent service at R and A when in NY in 2010. It certainly looks like a sh*t hole from outside. But, inside it is a cave of treasure.

Barry

Another in Germany is http://www.ricci-sports.de/? the site doesn’t at all tdo the shop any favours.
It’s in Dusseldorf and the owner was the team mechanic for Team Telekom. I was there last year,
he has an awesome array of old cycling parts and bikes going way back to Major Taylor!

Chikashi

For your consideration, Velodome, very cool sister of Bicyclette, opened in Antwerp this week, cf., http://wp.me/p2oTps-R0

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